Analysis Class Diagram, Communication Diagram, And Sequence Diagram For Case Study

Learning Outcomes

Based on a Case Study, students are expected to draw and discuss:  an Analysis Class Diagram, a Communication Diagram, and a Sequence Diagram. Students are also expected to discuss and evaluate the usefulness of UML diagrams and a CASE tool during analysis and design.

Diagrams should be created in Enterprise Architect and inserted into a Word or PDF file to accompany the discursive aspect of the assignment.

University policies on late submission of coursework and plagiarism will be strictly adhered to for this assignment.

This is an individual assignment.  This part of the coursework represents 60% of the module mark.

The marking schemes indicate how marks are given for each aspect of the work.

Learning Outcomes (from module template)

1   Have a comprehensive understanding of the role of the systems analyst/ designer, the context in which the systems development activity takes place and the professional standards that are applied to the activity.

2   Apply up to date structured techniques to produce analysis and/or design models for a given case study problem

Based on the Wide World Tour Management System (attached as Appendix A), complete the following tasks:

Part 1. Use Case Realisation for the ‘Record New Tour’ Use Case

Analysis Class Diagram

a)In your own words, briefly describe what is meant by an Analysis Class Diagram, and how class diagrams can be useful in systems analysis and design (100 words approx.).   

b)Draw an Analysis Class Diagram for the ‘Record New Tour’ Use Case, using the Use Case description given. This should include all required boundary, control and entity classes with their associations and attributes. Your diagram should be drawn using the Enterprise Architect software and copied and inserted as a picture into your document.

c)Write a brief summary of the decisions made whilst drawing the diagram, and your reasons for making those (150 words approx.).

Communication Diagram

a)In your own words, briefly describe what is modelled in a Communication Diagram, and how Communication Diagrams can be useful in systems analysis and design (100 words approx.).   

b)Draw a Communication Diagram for the use case in your diagram that corresponds most closely to the use case ‘Record New Tour’, using the Use Case description given. This should include all control, boundary and entity objects involved in the scenario and sufficient detail of the messages to show that the interaction is feasible and would meet the system requirements. Your diagram should be drawn using the Enterprise Architect software and copied and inserted as a picture into your document.

c)Write a brief summary of the decisions made whilst drawing the diagram, and your reasons for making those (150 words approx.).

Sequence Diagram

a)In your own words, briefly describe what is modelled in a Sequence Diagram, and how Sequence Diagrams can be useful in systems analysis and design.   

b)Draw a Sequence Diagram for the use case in your diagram that corresponds most closely to the use case ‘Record New Tour’.  This should include all control, boundary and entity objects involved in the scenario and the sequence of interactions that take place in order to meet the system requirements. Your diagram should be drawn using the Enterprise Architect software, and copied and inserted as a picture into your document.

Write a brief summary of the decisions made whilst drawing the diagram, and your reasons for making those (150 words approx.).  

Learning Outcomes

Analysis class diagram is a static structure diagram that graphically represents the system structure and interaction by showcasing the system classes and associated attributes, relationships, and dependencies. These diagrams are significant in system analysis and design process as they provide a sense of orientation. The details of the system and the components are provided through these diagrams. Also, a quick overview of the dependencies and interaction between the different components in the system is provided by these diagrams. The diagram assists the system design and development teams to execute the system accordingly to incorporate the functional aspects and system qualities.

Decisions made during analysis class diagram

There are two types of staff which are involved in the “Record New Tour” use case but have not shown in the above diagram. This is so because distinguishing attributes were not available for them. For instance: a clerical assistant and tour leader both can view the tour details so it’s difficult to distinguish between them. A tour can be of two types: daytrips and longer trips. A daytrip has only one driver but longer trips have more than one driver. Hence, it can be concluded that a list of drivers are associated with a single tour. Enterprise architect did not provide any such data type to denote a list of items. So, a custom data type named “LIST” was chosen.  

Communication Diagram is one of the behavioural diagrams that come under Unified Modelling Language (UML). It is the diagram that shows how the objects interact with each other. It provides an extension of the object diagram and includes the messages that travel from one object to the other in the system. With the aid of these messages, the analysts and designers get to know about the functionalities of the system. The role of the collaboration scenario also becomes clear with the help of these messages. The alternative scenarios and conditions are also identified with the aid of the communication diagram using the collaboration techniques and modelling.

The communication diagram, like sequence diagram, represents the exchange of messages between the actor and the system. It also starts with actor but the decisions made in making it were quite different as compare to sequence diagram. ALT and LOOP fragments were not used because it would have become complicated for the developers to understand the diagram. And it was already depicted in the sequence diagram. So, communication diagram, in conjunction with sequence diagram, will be able to predict the flow. Control activity didn’t come into picture because there is no controlling activity in the “Record New Tour”, hence it was not included in the diagram.

Sequence diagrams are often referred as the event diagrams and are used to model the system events and processes through horizontal and vertical lines. The vertical lines are drawn parallel to each other to show the system processes and objects and the horizontal lines depict the messages that are exchanged between these processes. These are modelled to depict the system interaction which is used in the project phases as design, integration, and implementation. The varied levels of interaction between the components are captured in the context of collaboration to ensure that the system design is accurate (Grigorjevs, 2011).  

Part 1. Use Case Realisation for the ‘Record New Tour’ Use Case

Decisions made during sequence diagram

Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools are the software applications that are applied in the projects to automate the activities covered in the software development lifecycle. These are the tools that simplify the various processes that come under SDLC, such as analysis, design, development, testing, implementation, etc.

The information system that is to be developed for Wide World Tours is the Tour Management System (TMS) that is composed of several modules and components. Each of these modules has a specific set of functional and non-functional requirements that must be incorporated. The CASE tools, such as Enterprise Architect and others can be used in the analysis of the scenarios by tracing high-level requirements as per the standards, such as UML, BPMN, and others. The models that will be developed using these tools and standards will be brought to life with the aid of the CASE tools. Dynamic model simulation is one of the features of these tools that may be used validate the correctness of the behavioural models and acquire enhanced understanding of the models (Case, 2013). The flow of these simulations will also be controlled using the CASE tools for improved business outcomes. Relationship matrix and hierarchy models provided by these tools will be used in the scenarios and requirements of TMS for suitable design and modelling of the information system.

The CASE tools will allow the analysts and designers associated with the Wide World Tour Management System to carry out their responsibilities and duties efficiently. It is because these tools will allow the analyst to gather requirements from varied sources and validate the information sets on the basis of the consistency levels. The application of the CASE tools will ensure that there is no inaccuracy in the diagrams and the data redundancies are also avoided. The functional, non-functional, and user requirements that will be analysed as a result will be clear and as per the specifications illustrated in the business case (Budgen and Thomson, 2003). The details provided for TMS state that there will be numerous components and modules associated with the information system. The use of the CASE tools will assist the designers to design the block structure for the information system. It will be possible to break down the block structure in smaller modules and components with the help of the refinement techniques. There will be details of dependencies and interconnections provided which will assist the designers in the creation of the responsive design for the information system. There are also prototyping and change control tools available which may be utilized by the analysts and designers to effectively track the system changes and incorporate the same in the analysis and design outcomes for the system.

Unified Modeling Language (UML) can be used in the project to develop system behaviour and structure diagrams that will assist the analysts and designers to adequately accomplish their tasks. There are several diagrams that come under UML, such as class diagrams, use case diagrams, sequence diagrams, activity flow diagrams, and many others. These diagrams are significant in system analysis and design process as they provide a sense of orientation. The details of the system and the components are provided through these diagrams. Also, a quick overview of the dependencies and interaction between the different components in the system is provided by these diagrams. The diagrams also assist the system design and development teams to execute the system accordingly to incorporate the functional aspects and system qualities (Luo, Gong and Zhu, 2010). These are modelled to depict the system interaction which is used in the project phases as design, integration, and implementation. The varied levels of interaction between the components are captured in the context of collaboration to ensure that the system design is accurate.  The use case diagrams will provide the details of system interaction and will illustrate the user roles and activities. The use of UML and its diagrams for TMS will help the analysts and designers to effectively bring out the system requirements and specifications along with the responsive design for the information system to develop a system that will be scalable and flexible in nature (Turan, 2015).

References

Budgen, D. and Thomson, M. (2003). CASE tool evaluation: experiences from an empirical study. Journal of Systems and Software, 67(2), pp.55-75.

Case, K. (2013). Tools for User-Centred Design. Advanced Engineering Forum, 10, pp.28-33.

Grigorjevs, J. (2011). Model-Driven Testing Approach Based on UML Sequence Diagram. Scientific Journal of Riga Technical University. Computer Sciences, 44(1), pp.85-90.

Kambow, L. (2012). Transformation of UML Class Diagram to UML Sequence Diagram. International Journal of Applied Information Systems, 2(9), pp.19-22.

Luo, S., Gong, R. and Zhu, S. (2010). User Experience Oriented Software Interface Design of Handheld Mobile Devices. Journal of Computer-Aided Design & Computer Graphics, 22(6), pp.1033-1041.

Turan, M. (2015). Integrating Software Metrics with UML Class Diagrams. Lecture Notes on Software Engineering, 3(3), pp.220-224.